By Kate Snyder
More of the Puget Sound region’s vacant land has traded hands with a recent deal that involved several parcels in Auburn. The buyer in the $11 million transaction was an entity affiliated with KB Home, a homebuilder based in Los Angeles that operates throughout the United States, according to King County property records. The seller was an entity affiliated with Lakeridge Development.
The parcels total at least 12 acres, property records show. Much of the land involved in the transaction is located in the northeast corner of the city, along SE 304th Street and 124th Avenue SE. The area is surrounded by single-family home developments.
KB Home was originally founded in 1957 and has in recent years been an active developer in the Puget Sound area, according to the firm’s website. The company has multiple housing communities within its Washington portfolio, and is currently developing homes in a number of municipalities.
Last year, the firm spent $27.7 million on land along Sunset Blvd. E. in Puyallup, according to previous reporting from The Registry. KB Home acquired two parcels in the deal. The seller of that property was an entity affiliated with Corliss Management Group, based in Lake Tapps. Combined, the properties totaled 49.9 acres in undeveloped land, although the area was already zoned for residential uses. The acreage included 162 lots.
More recently, the Puget Sound region has seen a number of deals involving vacant land and homebuilders.
In one recent sales transaction, at least 37 parcels of vacant land, many of which are under an acre each, were purchased in Bonney Lake for $10 million by Richmond American Homes, a homebuilder based in Colorado with a regional office in Kent. The seller was an entity affiliated with Newland Communities, one of the developers of Tehaleh by Newland, a new housing development near Bonney Lake. The parcels are located along 205th Ave. E on the south end of the city.
